Boring type mining machine having horizontally extending trimmer bar



11, 1958 E- J. HLINSKY 2,823,023

BORING TYPE MINING MACHINE HAVING HORIZQNTALLY EXTENDING TRIMMER BARFiled Nov. 1, 1956 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Emil J Hlinsky W- ATORNEY 1953 E. J. HLlNSKY 2,823,02 BORING TYPE MINING MACHINE HAVINGHORIZONTALLY EXTENDING TRIMMER BAR Filed Nov. 1, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2iiill/ 68 IN VEN TOR.

By I Emil J. Hlinsky ATTORNEY 4 Feb. 11, 1958 E. J. HLINSKY BORING TYPEMINING MACHINE HAVING HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING TRIMMER BAR 3 Sheets-Sheet3 Filed Nov. 1, 1956 INVENTOR. BY Emil JHIinsky WW ATTORNEY Unit d S ats Pa e BORING TYPE MINING MACHINE HAVING HORI- ZONTALLY EXTENDINGTRIMMER BAR Emil J. Hlinsky, La Grange Park, Ill., assignor to GoodmanManufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of IllinoisApplication November 1, 1956, Serial No. 619,812

6 Claims. (Cl. 262-7) This invention relates to improvements in miningmachines of the boring type, and more particularly to rotary trimmer bararrangements used on such machines.-

Mining machines of the boring type are usually characterized by a mobileframe having a plurality of boring heads rotatable on parallel axes forcutting a plurality of contiguous bores in advance of the machine,together with horizontally extending trimmer bars disposed rearwardly ofand generally tangential to adjacent pairs of boring heads so as to trimor cut off the depending and upstanding cusps left between said boringheads as the machine is advanced.

The present invention relates particularly to bit-carrying trimmer barsrotatable on horizontal axes of the kind broadly disclosed in Patent No.2,734,731, issued February 14, 1956.

Among the objects of the present invention is to provide an improvedform and arrangement of rotary triminer bars and supporting meanstherefor wherein the bars are oscillated in endwise direction while themachine is in operation; so as to enhance the effectiveness of thecutting action with a relatively small number of cutter bits.

A-furtherobject is to provide a form of rotary cutter bar having spiralbit carrying formations thereon which constitute an improved means forclearing the material dislodged from the working face by the machine,and

structed in accordance with the invention, with one of the boring headsremoved;

' Figure 2' is an enlarged detailed section taken genverally along line2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed section taken on line 3-3 of .Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a' detailed section taken along line 44 of 'Figure 1; 1

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5--5 of Figure l; Figure 6 is an endview taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a diagram of the hydraulic circuit and associated partsemployed for oscillating the rotary cutter bars generally along theiraxes.

Referring now more particularly to details of the embodiment ofthe'invention shown on the drawings, the 'numeral 10 generally indicatesthe main frame of a mobile mining machine which in the form shown ismounted for movement along a mine floor on endless crawlers 11. :Mountedon the main frame 10 is a conveyor frame 12 carrying conveyor flights 13on a center chain 14 mounted for movement upwardly and rearwardly fromadjacent the front end of .anauxiliary frame 21 soas toremove ice theloose material dislodged during the operation of the machine. The frontend of the conveyor frame is extended with forwardly flaring side plates16 and a downwardly flaring bottom plate 17 which form an open throatfor receiving the loose material adjacent the mine floor at the centerof the machine. A pair of upright deflector plates 18 extend outwardlyfrom opposite sides of the throat so as to aid in directing dislodgedmaterial into the conveyor throat.

The auxiliary frame 21 is mounted as usual by suitable jacks (not shown)at the front end of the main frame 10 so as to provide vertical, forwardand rearward, and-a lateral tilting adjustments of said auxiliary framerelative to the main frame. The arrangement aifording the tiltingadjustments just mentioned is well known in the art so need not be shownor described in greater detail herein.

A pair of boring heads 22, 22 have drive shafts 22-, 22" journalled inbearings 19 projecting forwardly from'the auxiliary frame 21 so thatsaid boring heads, rotate on laterally spaced axes for cuttingcontiguous bores in advance of the machine. Each of the boring heads22', one of which is shown in full in Figure 1, has a pair of radiallyextending arms 23, 23. Each of the arms hasa forwardly projectingcuttersupport 24 at its .outer end and a second cutter support 26 spacedinwardly thereof. The cutter supports 24 and 26 have a plurality ofcutter bits 28 mounted as usual there along. The two pairs of cuttersupports 24 and 26 are arranged to cut two concentric kerfs in the mineface. A third pair of cutter supports 27 may be mounted at oppositesides of the arms 23 in position to cut a third smaller concentric kerf.

in addition, a pair of plows 29 are mounted near the outer ends of eachof the arms 23 for sweeping dislodged material toward the center of themachine into position for removal by the conveyor flights 13. 1

The general structure and arrangement ofthe main frame 10, auxiliaryframe 21, and the boring heads 22, as previously described, is more 01'less conventional boring machines and is merely illustrative of theenviron ment of the trimmer bars, which form the principal sub jectmatter of the present invention, as will now be .described.

A lower trimmer bar indicated generally at 30 is ro tatable on ahorizontal axis and journalled near opposite ends -in supports 46 and48. Said trimmer bar is located in front of the auxiliary frame 21 andthe upright bafiie plate 18 and rearwardly of the paths of movement ofthe two boring heads 22, 22 (see Figures 1 and 2). It will also beobserved that the two cutter supports 46 and 48 are disposedrespectively in vertical alignment below the axes of the two boringheads 22, 22 so that said boring heads will cut paths for said supportswhile the machine is being advanced into the mine facej v An uppercutter bar indicated generally at .31 is mounted in a similar manner onsupports 47 and 49. at'- ,tl1'e upper limits of movementof the boringheads. 22, 22; In the form shown, the lower and upper cutter'bars sum 31are of similar construction so that a detailed "description of the lowercutter bar 30 will also'applyfto similar parts of the upper cutter bar.1 l,

The lower cutter bar 30 consists of a rotary shaft-like center section52 extending between the supports 46 and 48, a stub end section 53connected to the center section and extending laterally beyond thesupport 46, and a stub end section 54 connected to the opposite end ofthe center section and extending laterally beyond the supportv .48. Thecenter section 52 has a projecting rib 56 formed spirally thereabout andextending from the support 46 inwardly to the center line of themachine, where said' r'ib joins a reversed spiral rib 57 extending fromthe'center line of the machine to the opposite support 48. Thisreversing spiral rib construction is so'designed that'wheu lation alongthe spiral ribs 56, 56 and 57, 57' on the center and end sections. Inthe form shown in detail in Figures and 6, all of said cutter bits aredisposed in the same diametrical plane at opposite sides of the trimmerbar. Each bit 58 has a bit blade 59 with the shank 60 generally circularin cross-section and tapered toward its inner end but with a portion 59of the blade off-set toward the rear of said shank. Each shank isadapted to have wedge-fitting engagement in bit receiving apertures 61along the spiral ribs. Said apertures also have through-holes 62extended therethrough to the opposite side of the trimmer shaft to aidin ejecting the bits when desired.

The stub end sections 53 and 54 may also have wingshaped cutter bits 63projecting at the outer ends thereof.

The arrangement for journalling the lower trimmer bar in the supports 46and 48 is shown in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4. The support 46 includesa drive connection for the trimmer bar, whereas the support 48 affords abearing support for adjacent ends of the center shaft section 52 and thestub end section Referring first to the support 46, said supportconsists of a generally cylindrical housing which is splitlongitudinally with a removable outer cap 68 fastened to the support 46by screws 69. The shaft of the center section 52 has a reduced endportion 52 journalled in bearing 65 in one end of the support 46. Theshaft of end section 53 has a reduced end portion 53 journalled onbearings 66 in the opposite end of support 46. The reduced end portion53' is considerably shorter than the reduced end portion 52' and theabutting ends of these two shafts have splines 52" and 53", thereon,both seated in an elongated splined hub 68 of a bevel gear 70. The hub68 of said bevel gear may be fixed to the adjacent splined ends of shaftportions 52' and 53' as by pins 71 and 72. The shafts 52' and 53 haveend seals 73 and 74 in the support 46 outside of the bearings 65 and 66,respectively.

The bevel gear is meshed with a bevel pinion 75 on a shaft 76 which isrotatably mounted in bearings '77 and 78 in a tubular extension 79 onsupport 46. This tubular extension and the shaft carried thereby extendsat W an upwardly and rearwardly angle from the support 46 and the shaftis connected by a conventional extensible universal coupling 80 to ashaft 81 which is journalled in bearings 82 and 83 in a tubular housing84 mounted on the auxiliary frame 21. The shaft 81 has a bevel pinion 85at its upper end meshed with a beveled pinion 86 on a horizontal shaft87 journalled on a support 88 fixed in the auxiliary frame .21. Theshaft 87 has a spur gear 89 fixed thereon which may be driven from themain drive gear (not shown) for one of the boring heads 22.

As will be seen from Figure 2, the shaft 76 and the front end of theuniversal coupling 80 pass through an aperture 90 in the adjacentupright plate 18 at the front end of the machine with ample clearance topermit lateral oscillation of the support 46 and the trimmer bar carriedthereby, as well as to permit the several tilting adjustments of theauxiliary frame 21 relative to the main frame. 10.

The trimmer bar support 48 is split longitudinally in the same manner asdescribed in connection with the support 46. The'center section 52 andthe end section 54 havereduced shaft sections 91 and 92, respectively,which extend into opposite ends of the support 48 and are journalledrespectively in bearings 93 .and 94 in the latter.

4 The abutting ends of the reduced shaft portions 91 and 92 are splinedat 91' and 92' and fit in a connecting collar 93 which is fastened onsaid spline shaft ends as by pins 95 and 96. The shafts 52 and 54 haveend seals 97 and 98 in the support 48 outside of the bearings 93 and 94respectively.

Referring again to Figure 1, it will be seen that the upper and lowertrimmer bars 30 and 31 form respectively the upper and lowercross-members of a parallelogram linkage, the upright portions of whichlinkage consists of a pair of connecting members 33 and 34 which arepivotally mounted respectively by central hubs 33 and 34' surroundingthe bearing supports 19, 19 of the cutter heads 22 and 22.

In the form and arrangement shown in Figure 1, the upper trimmer bar 31has a support 47 near its left end which is similar in construction tothe support 46 near the right end of the lower trimmer bar 30 as seen inthis figure. Said upper trimmer bar also has a support 49 adjacent itsright end which is similar in construction to the support 48 near theleft end of the lower trimmer bar 30. The lower end of the uprightconnecting member 33 is pivotally connected by pin 44 to the support 46of the lower trimmer bar and the similar lower end of the connectingmember 34 is pivotally connected by pin 44' to the support 48. In thesame manner the upper end of the connecting member 33 is pivoted by pin45 to the support 49 of the upper trimmer bar and the upper end of thesimilar connecting member 34 is pivotally connected by pin 45' to thesupport 47. It will be manifest that with this parallelogram type ofconstruction, the two connecting members 33 and 34 may be rocked abouttheir respective axes so as to oscillate the upper and lower trimmerbars equally in opposite directions, generally longitudinally of theiraxes.

The means for oscillating the connecting members 33 and 34 consist of apair of hydraulic jacks or cylinders 37, 37 pivotally connected on pivotpins 38, 38 to supports 39, 39' mounted on the front face of theauxiliary frame 21. The jacks 37, 37 have piston rods 40 and 40respectively pivotally connected at 36, 36' to levers 41 and 41'projecting inwardly from the hubs 33' and 34' of the upright connectingmembers 33 and 34.

The hydraulic power connections for actuating the jacks 37 and 37 isshown in detail of the diagram of Figure7.

As will be seen from this figure, said hydraulic cylinders are actuatedby pressure supplied thereto from a pump 100 having a high pressure line101 leading to a conventional relief valve 102 and through line 103through control valve 104 and high pressure line 105 to an automaticreversing valve 106. This reversing valve is of a conventional type wellknown in the art,'having a ro tating valve element 107 adapted to bethrown in one direction or the other by a forked shifting lever 108having a pair of spaced contact members 109 and 109' at its outer end,so as to direct the flow of fluid from the pressure line 105 eitherthrough a line 110 leading to the upper and lower ends respectively ofthe hydraulic cylinders 37 and 37 or through a second line 111 leadingto the lower and upper ends respectively of said cylinders. Thereversing valve 106 is also arranged so as to simultaneously relievepressure from hydraulic cylinders 37 and 37 through lines 110 and 111 toa relief line 112 leading to a sump or tank 113.

As will be further seen from Figures 1 and 7, the hub 34' of the uprightconnecting member 34 has a projecting finger 114 which projects betweenthe contact members 109 and 109 on the forked .shifting lever 108.

The arrangement of such that when pressure is applied through thereversing valve 106 with the valve element 107 in one of its twooperating positions, the two upright connecting bars 33 and 34 will berocked in the same direction, until the finger 114 engages one of thecontact members 109 or 109" on the shifting lever 108 so as. to rotatevalve element 107 into its second reversed position so as to reverse theflow of fluid leading to and from said cylinders. This produces anautomatic reversal of the rocking or oscillating movement of theconnecting members 33 and 34, and the trimmer bars carried thereby.

The use and operation of the machine is as follows:

The machine as a whole is advanced toward the working face on itscrawlers 11 with the two boring heads 22 and 22 rotating in synchronizedopposite directions so as to tend to sweep the material dislodged fromthe working face inwardly along the mine floor toward the centerconveyor. Simultaneously, the upper and lower trimmer bars 30 and 31,which follow immediately behind the path of rotation of the two cutterheads, are rotated through their respective driving connections. Whilethe trimmer bars are being rotated, they are also oscillatedtransversely of the machine by rocking movement of the connectingmembers 33 and 34. The center sections 52 of the trimmer bars betweenthe outer-most vertical limits of the bores A, A cut by the two cutterheads, will trim off cusps left at the floor and roof respectivelybetween said cutter heads as indicated at B, B. The outer stub ends 53and 54 of the trimmer bars will also extend the bore pattern at thefloor and roof levels, beyond the bores A, A as indicated at C, C inFigure 1.

This transverse oscillating movement of the trimmer bars extends thecutting effect of the opposite ends of the two trimmer bars. It alsoaids the cutting action of the cutter bits 58 on the trimmer barsbecause they are constantly being shifted laterally in one direction orthe other to attack the coal face at different points instead ofrotating in the same paths longitudinally of the machine. Due to thisoscillating motion, therefore, it is possible to obtain more effectivecutting action of the bits 58 with a relatively small number of suchbits. Moreover, if one or more of the bits should be lost or broken, theoperation of the machine may be continued without materially effectingthe cutting action of the trimmer bars.

It will be further understood that due to the spiral formation of theribs 56, 57 on the center section 52 and the similarly spiralled ribs56, 57 on the end sections 53 and 54 of the trimmer bars, the loosematerial dislodged by the machine and engaged by said ribs, andparticularly by the lower trimmer bar 30, will tend to be moved inwardlyfrom opposite sides of the machine into loading position in front of theopen throat of the conveyor.

One of the special advantages of rotating trimmer bars of the kinddisclosed herein is the fact that the trimmer bars are capable ofcutting either at roof and floor levels either when the machine is beingadvanced into the Working face or when it is being retracted from theworking face or when the auxiliary frame 21 is being tilted so as tochange the angle of advance of the machine into the working face. Itwill be seen that the trimmer bars are capable of cutting their ownclearance either when the machine as a whole is being advanced orretracted or when the auxiliary frame is tilted in any direction withrespect to the main frame.

Although I have shown and described a certain embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to theexact construction shown and described, but various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined by the imprinted claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a mining machine of the boring type having a mobile frame with aplurality of boring heads journalled on parallel axes for cutting aplurality of contiguous bores in advance of the frame, a horizontallyextending trimmer bar disposed generally tangential to but rearwardly ofan adjacent pair of boring heads to cut off the cusp left between saidadjacent boring heads, said trimmer bar including a cutter-bit-carryingbar rotatable on a horizontal axis, means including a pair of laterallyspaced parallel arms rockably mounted on said frame for oscillating saidtrimmer bar generally longitudinally of its axis and in a substantiallyfixed vertical plane, and power connections from said frame for rotatingsaid bar on its axis.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the frame has a loading conveyorwith a receiving throat adjacent the bottom of the frame rearwardly ofthe trimmer bar, and the trimmer bar has reversely extending spiral ribformations along its opposite ends for guiding loose material fromopposite ends of said bar toward a loading position in front of saidconveyor throat upon rotation of said trimmer bar in a normal cuttingdirection.

3. The structure of claim 1, wherein the trimmer bar is journalled intwo laterally spaced supports, the pair of rocking arms are pivoted onsaid frame on axes disposed vertically of the bar, said trimmer supportsare pivoted to the ends of said rocking arms, and the means foroscillating the trimmer bar includes reversible power means connected tothe rocking arms.

4. The structure of claim 3, wherein the pair of rocking arms arepivoted on the frame in substantially vertical alignment with the axesof the adjacent pair of boring heads, and the trimmer bar supports areoscillated within the bore patterns cut by said boring heads.

5. In a mining machine of the boring type having a mobile frame with aplurality of boring heads journalled on parallel axes for cutting aplurality of contiguous bores in advance of the frame, said frame havinga loading conveyor with a receiving throat adjacent the floor levelbetween an adjacent pair of boring heads, a pair of horizontallydisposed rotary trimmer bars disposed rearwardly of said adjacent pairof boring heads, and generally tangential to the upper and lower limitsof said boring heads for cutting off the depending and upstanding cuspsleft between said boring heads at roof and floor levels respectively,said trimmer bars each consisting of a cutter-bitcarrying bar, rotatableupon a horizontal axis in a pair of longitudinally spaced journalsupports, means for oscillating said upper and lower trimmer barstransversely of the machine in mutually reversed directions including apair of upright rocking members pivotally connected to said frameintermediate their ends on laterally spaced axes, and pivotallyconnected at their upper and lower ends to said journal supports, powermeans for oscillating said rocking members, and power connections onsaid frame for rotating said trimmer bars.

6. The structure of claim 5, wherein the rocking members are pivotallymounted on said frame concentrically with the axes of the adjacentboring heads, the journal supports for the trimmer bars are oscillablein arcs within the bore patterns cut by said boring heads, and the powerconnections from the frame to said trimmer bars are effected through oneof the journal supports of each of said trimmer bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,283,880 OToole Nov. 5, 1918 1,336,440 OToole Apr. 13, 1920 2,695,164Arentzen Nov. 23, 1954 2,734,731 Cartlidge et al Feb. 14, 1956

